Elida Almeida – June 21, 2018

Almeida and company are from the Cape Verde Islands, which is African more than anything else. That I find certain similarities in the musics of various African diaspora islands of the Caribbean (and now Atlantic) is thus no surprise. I confess, I’m not sufficiently immersed to tease out some of the distinctions that are surely there. In my defense, World Music has seemed to have made a tasty gumbo of it all, though perhaps less of a blend when all players are from the same place, as is true for this band. They seemed to be really impressed that someone would come to sketch them at work, yielding one of the highest gratitude ratings ever. I didn’t get Cruz right on the first attempt, so I started over, and the second, more successful try seemed to come out somehow less masculine. Only after the concert when I was getting the autographs did it become evident that she was a she! For me, an gratifying corroboration of my under the radar intuitive perception AND expressive abilities.